An Image of Grace

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Grace would like to know why no one had ever told her about lead line class before yesterday. She got all decked out in pink ribbons, pink saddle pad and got to carry around the most adorable kid on her back for a lap or two around the arena. The schooling show was her first time off the property in over a year, she didn't bat an eye.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Holly had been telling me for weeks that Grace loves teaching the little kids. One day I finally was in the arena at the same time that Grace was giving a lesson to an adorable 4 year old girl. Who was this horse packing this small child around like she was the most precious cargo on earth? Was that really the same mare that had been giving me the business on a regular basis for the past 13 years? Here is video of Grace in all her glory teaching the little ones how to ride. For years I've kept this mare as "mine". It wasn't until I shared her that I learned just how amazing she really is.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Sunday, November 2, 2014

I was not looking for a saddle. I didn't think I needed another saddle, but dammit, this saddle! Sarah told me to put it on Joe for my lesson this week. She bought it for one of her horses last year and it didn't work out. She just found the right saddle for that horse and is planning to sell this beautiful Blue Ribbon that is just sitting. "I want to see if it fits Joe before I list it and then wish we had kept it". I figured it wouldn't do any harm, Joe hates trying different saddles there was no way he would be good in this one, besides my About the Horse saddle fits him great... but it could be prettier for shows. Not only did the saddle fit Joe, it fit me. It fit me better than any saddle I've ever sat in. My leg looked longer and it was still. I didn't have to adjust my seat throughout the ride. How could this be? Joe likes to put me in the back seat when I ride him. My other saddle has a more forward seat position which works great for Grace, Joe would have me sitting on his tail if he could. Sarah has a mare that does the same thing, when she put her in a saddle that put the rider where the mare wanted her it made all the difference. Same thing happened to Joe. Yesterday he was the most consistent he's ever been with his head at the lope, especially to the left which is his more difficult lead. Every time I rode past the mirror I couldn't get over my leg. My thighs looked long and not huge, my leg was still, I looked like I could hold my own in an equitation class. Sigh... off to see what other tack I can part with so this saddle can be mine. It sure is pretty!

Friday, October 17, 2014

I've started writing again. This has nothing to do with horses but wanted to share:

“Yaaaaawwn” I stand up on my bed
and stretch my body pointing my rear end to the sky. I shake out my hind legs
before stepping out of the plush bed that is covered in my black fur. The
humans should really clean that up today. I walk across the bedroom floor,
stopping to stretch once again in the sun spot coming in through the window. On
my way past the bed I graze the top of my tail across the mattress. The humans
don’t seem to be awake just yet. I’ll give them a moment or two to pull their
act together. I trot into the kitchen to see if maybe they fed me while I was
sleeping. Oh good! My bowl is full of food, I’m starving! I dive in and start
crunching, wait this isn’t right. Where is the smell? No fake fish or beef
aroma? I run my paw through the dish, just as I thought! This is stale food
from yesterday! How did this happen?

I trot back into the bedroom “Meow, meow”
I use my sweet voice letting the humans know there has been a mistake. No
movement from the bed. I walk the length of the mattress rubbing my tail across
the dust cover. “Meow, meow” louder now, they’ve been asleep too long. Still
nothing. I put my front feet on the top of the mattress leaving my hind feet on
the ground. The female human is facing me, eyes closed. “Meow?” She pops one
eye open and closes it quickly. I jump onto the bed climbing onto the female
human’s hip. She roles onto her stomach causing me to land back on the
mattress. “Me-ow!” I shout in protest. I climb onto her back walking towards
her shoulder. She still doesn’t stir so I take my cold nose and push it against
her uncovered neck. “Dammit Tiffany!” That’s my name, Dammit Tiffany. My
official title is God but sometimes the humans forget to use it. “Did you feed
her last night?” The male human grumbles “yes I filled her bowl” she answers. I
dance in a circle on the female human’s back, I have them both awake now! The
human mass under me moves quickly, she rolls on her back grabbing me with her
arms at the same time, pulling me into her chest under the covers. Oh! Warm
human cuddle time, my favorite! I purr against her chest and drift off to
sleep. Visions of furry mice and birds outside the window fill my dreams. I’m
running outside in the fresh air, hunting a fat robin in the tall grass. I
sneak up on the unsuspecting bird and hunker down, I shake my tail wiggling my
hind end winding up my spring. Fully coiled now I leap into the air, the robin
never sees me. Claws fully extended I’m just about to grab the juicy feathered
meal “Beep, beep, beep” The female moves out from under me reaching over to the
night stand to make the sound in the box stop. ”Me-ow!” How rude! I almost had
that bird! The female human leaves the room. I’m still sleepy and am now
getting cold but there is still another warm human in the bed. I climb on top
of the male human’s back. He doesn’t move. I walk up to his shoulders, nothing.
I try the same nose trick that I did with the female, he snores. This calls for
extreme measures. I extend my claws and begin kneading between his shoulder blades.
He wiggles underneath me “Ow! Dammit Tiffany!” He rolls onto his side throwing
his back towards the edge of the bed tossing me onto the floor. “Me-ow!” I land
squarely on my feet and glare up at him with a dirty look. It’s no use, he is
snoring again.

I head off to find the female human, its due time she fill my
food bowl with fresh food. I find her in the bathroom sitting on the toilet.
She looks like she is still sleeping so I rub myself against her legs to help
wake her up. She reaches down and stokes her hand across my back as I walk and
forth against her. She gives my tail a gentle tug “meow” I let her know it
feels good. She tugs again, I rub up against her leg and purr. She tugs once
more but a little too hard this time, I dig my claws into her leg and bite the
soft skin of her calf. “God Dammit Tiffany!” She jumps up off the toilet moving
quickly away from me “Meow” Finally she gets my name right. The toilet flushes and I race out of the
bathroom heading down the hall to the kitchen. I turn around when I get to the
kitchen, no human. I look back down the hall and she is just now coming out of
the bathroom, with a new Band-Aid on her leg.

I race back to her and help her
walk to the kitchen walking in between her legs with each step. She takes a
step out of cadence and steps on my paw “YEOW” I yell, that hurt! “Dammit
Tiffany!” I plop myself down directly in front her to tend to my sore white toes
carefully licking in between them. She steps right over me and continues on to
the kitchen. I’m busy working on my paw when I hear the tinkling of fresh
kibble landing in my bowl. I run down the hall, my paw no longer hurts. I slide
to a stop in front of my food dish. The female human is busy at the coffee pot.
I dive into the kibble salivating with each bite. A few kibbles in and I bite
into a soft half chewed kibble. What is this? I spit the kibble out on the
floor for further examination. I recognize this kibble, I spit it out last
night when my dinner became stale. I sniff it, it smells like my drool! The humans
have tricked me! They haven’t been refilling my bowl, they’ve just been mixing
up the kibbles thinking I wouldn’t notice! I take two steps back and force
myself to vomit my breakfast onto the clean kitchen floor. I’m not hungry now
anyway and I’ll just lick the butter dish on the counter when they leave if I
get hungry. As I’m walking out of the kitchen with my tail held high the still
sleepy male human walks in. He isn’t quite awake yet and steps directly into my
fresh pile of warm vomit “God Dammit Tiffany!”“Purow!” Oh how I love to hear my name!

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

I am finding that the more I date men the more I love Joe. I find myself staring at my phone willing the little light to flash telling me I have a text from the next potential Mr. Right. It's enough to make a girl crazy and I have better things to do with my time and energy!

I tell Joe every day that he is the only boy for me. He is always happy to see me and cannot seem to get enough of my attention. It got me to thinking, if Joe could text what would a day in the life of my cell phone look like:

3:45am Joe - "Hi!"

3:46am Joe - "Hi!, morning!"

3:50am Joe - "Breakfast?"

4:10am Joe- " I'm starving! Where is breakfast"

4:30am Melissa "Morning Joe, there is plenty of hay in your bale bag, breakfast is at 7:30, eat the hay in your bag there was at least 3/4 of a bale in it last night"

4:31am Joe -" Right! Forgot about that!"

4:32am Joe - "Breakfast hay??"

4:35am Melissa "At 7:30 just like every morning"

4:36am Joe - "K thanks!"

5:35 am Joe - "Wesley said he is hungry"

5:40am Melissa "Wesley is fine, breakfast is at 7:30 I am leaving for work now. Have a good day and stay out of trouble"

5:41am Joe - "Are you coming back????"

5:42am Melissa "Yes Joe, I will be home after 4:00pm, just like yesterday"

5:45am Joe - "K bye!"

7:30am Joe " BREAKFAST HAY IS HERE!!!"

7:40am Joe " Oatsies?"

7:50am Melissa "Oatsies are with dinner hay, just like last night and the night before"

7:51am Joe "Right!"

9:00am Joe "Hi!"

9:01am Joe "Hi!"

9:02am Joe "Hi!"

9:03am Joe "Hi!"

9:05am Joe " Wesley is going out to the pasture, when do I get to go out?"

9:06am Joe "HELLO???"

9:35am Melissa "I was in a meeting. We talked about turnout, you don't get to go out because you take your shoes off every single time. Eat the hay in your hay bag, I'll be home after 4:00pm"

9:36am - Joe "Oh right, cause my shoes fall off"

10:00am - Joe "Stall is getting cleaned!"

10:15am- Joe "Fresh shavings!"

10:16am - Joe "I peed!"

10:18am - Joe "and pooped!"

10:20am - Joe "Taking a nap"

11:00am - Joe " POOP ON MY FACE :)"

11:05am - Melissa "Oh Joe!"

11:05am - Joe "Lol you get to clean it off!"

12:00pm Joe "Hi"

12:01pm Joe "Hi"

12:02pm Joe "Hi, I'm bored. When are you coming home?"

12:05pm Melissa "After 4:00pm, at lunch now but I have a meeting at 3:00 will head home when it is over and should be in the barn by 4:25."

12:06pm - Joe "K, still bored"

12:07pm - Melissa "Wesley will be back in soon to keep you company"

12:30pm - Joe "WESLEY IS BACK! Going to play for a while so if you don't hear from me.."

12:35pm - Melissa "Stay out of trouble, NO teeth!"

1:00pm - Joe "HELP! OMG WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! IT IS GOING TO EAT ME!"

1:01pm - Melissa "What is going on?? Do I need to call Sarah"

1:02pm - Joe "Crashing in the woods behind the barn! WHAT IS IT?"

1:03pm - Joe " Just a deer, its all good, I'm chill now."

1:04pm - Melissa "%$#! Don't do that to me!"

1:05pm- Joe"Wesley and I are going to take naps now"

1:45pm - Joe " MORE POOP ON MY FACE!"

1:46pm - Melissa "Lovely"

2:00pm - Joe "I'M STUCK!!!"

2:01pm - Melissa "Back up"

2:02 pm - Joe "MY HEAD IS STUCK I CAN'T MOVE"

2:03pm Melissa - "Back up!"

2:04pm Joe - "OMG MY HEAD IS STUCK BETWEEN THE STALL DOOR AND THE STALL GUARD!!! I'LL BE LIKE THIS FOREVER"

2:05 Melissa -" BACK UP! Just like yesterday"

2:06pm Joe - "It's all good, I just had to back up to get out"

2:10pm Joe - "When are you coming home?"

2:11pm Joe - "Hello?"

2:15pm Melissa -" After 4:00pm but if you keep texting me it will slow me down and I will be later"

2:16pm Joe - "K. bye!

2:18pm Joe - "Are you going to say bye"

2:20pm Melissa -"Bye Joe, no more texts unless it is an emergency, I will be home after 4"